Crossfitting, Paleoing, and Living in the 918

I am very happy to announce a new blog that I am excited and honored to be a part of: Hot Dish Health! A few of the ladies past and present that were/are a part of Crossfit Jenks decided to get together and write about something we are constantly talk about: staying and eating healthy. We found ourselves talking about food and nutrition 24/7. Every time we saw each other we would bring up new things we learned, recipes we tried, or lament about what we “accidentally” ate that weekend. We found that most of us were in a struggling battle to find balance between eating healthy and becoming obsessed.

Finally one day our Hot Dish Nicole decided that if we were all feeling the same way about food, how many other people in the world were having the same daily struggle? Enter: Hot Dish Health, a forum to talk about those struggles, get feedback from loyal readers like you and a place to start the conversation that no one wants to have but we all obsess over. So I hope you can find some useful information in both of these blogs, Healthy Living in the 918 and Hot Dish Health. Hopefully one post or another will speak to you, give you inspiration or just a much-needed laugh.

Yes, I know… For shame! I am hanging my head right now at my long and sad absence from writing in this blog. It was not without lots and lots of guilt if that makes you feel better. I actually had bookmarked my blog address at the top of my browser and every single day when I would get on the internet I would look up and feel incredibly guilty for not writing. I could claim life, work, and everything else in between has kept me away, but there truly is no excuse for being gone this long.

So, here I am. I am not going to wait for a New Year’s Resolution to get this thing going again. For one, because that hardly ever works and two, because hopefully if I can get back into the swing of things, writing here will be more of a habit and not so much of a chore. So there you have it!

Updates are definitely in order! I am incredibly excited to announce that in September of this year, (my 2 year Crossfit anniversary Yay!) I got certified! Woo Hoo! I am officially a Level 1 Certified Instructor! Since then I have begun teaching at my affiliate and it is probably the most rewarding and fun thing I have ever done and the certification itself was an amazing experience. Besides the fact that we were in the presence of some Crossfit All Stars, we pretty much got a 48 hour non stop Crossfit workout! Who could ask for anything more! Our Certification was in Allen, TX and our instructors included Miranda Oldroyd, Russel Berger, and Todd Widmann to name a few. They were absolutely amazing teachers and I learned more about Crossfit than I ever thought possible.

Although it was fun and exciting I definitely can’t say it was easy. Besides the fact that we literally had to memorize a 125 page manual before even showing up, at the end of the weekend they make you regurgitate all of the information on a 50 question multiple choice test. So the girls and I spent almost every waking minute of the weekend that we weren’t working out, studying and quizzing each other off of flash cards that we made. I can speak for all of us and say we were absolutely stressed out to the max! None of us wanted to be the one lady out of the group to fail the test and have to come back and face our affiliate, not to mention the awkward 5 hour drive home.

But after much anxiety and many kind words of encouragement from Miranda,

we all passed with flying colors! Hooray! And now we are officially Crossfit Certified!

And I am happily training at Crossfit Jenks. I started teaching the On Ramp class, Monday and Wednesdays at 6:30 pm and Saturday at 11:00 am. So if you are thinking of trying out Crossfit and not quite sure if it is for you, come out and try a free introductory class on Saturday!

Besides being an amazing workout and stress reliever, it is constantly varied and never gets boring. And I promise to be nice the first day 🙂

That is all I have for now. I promise to not be a stranger and keep up with the Paleo tips and Crossfit updates! Until next time! Stay active, stay healthy, and smile!

Hooray!! The Tulsa Farmers Market is officially open and guess what?? Walking distance from my house. That my friends, is very exciting. Now, on Saturday mornings I can roll out of bed a little bit early and walk down the block to pick some amazing food up before Crossfit at 10 am. Sounds wonderful and exactly what I did this weekend. I was very happy to get a grass fed chuck roast and a few basil plants. I keep wanting to make pesto, but buying herbs from the store is ridiculously expensive. So for $4.00 I was able to get two plants. Now I just have to plant them! And if you love pesto like I do, here is a great recipe for some Pesto Chicken Roll ups. AND a great site for easy Paleo Meals…

DELICIOUS. I have made this dish twice, the first time I rolled the chicken up and the second time I just brushed the pesto on. Both very good, but the second was was a bit easier and way less messy.

This weekend was interesting to say the least. For one, Saturday included a fundraiser for an alternative high school in Tulsa called Street School. Our friend was on the board and got four of us to go as KISS for their Hardest Rocker Contest. Let me just tell you, I worked on sewing these costumes for about 4 weeks and boy did it pay off. I think we looked great and ended up winning! That was a blast. Here’s a little pic of the costumes.

And, despite the alcohol indulgence, I was able to eat strict Paleo. We ordered food before the fundraiser, which included grilled chicken, no bun or cheese and a side salad. I also brought some cashew/cranberries with me. This helped curve my appetite so I didn’t have to eat the appetizer buffet. So I stayed clear, although some women next to us were eating what looked to be “heaven on a plate” desert and I had to avert my eyes. Sigh. I wonder when my sweet tooth will cease to whisper sweet nothings in my ear.

Saturday-

Breakfast- turkey lunch meat, avocado, larabar

Lunch- eggs, strawberries, a turkey sausage patty

Dinner- grilled chicken, tomato, side salad with cucumbers and tomatoes

Ok, so yesterday was great and all. The day continued smoothly and the weather was so nice I actually got in a run down by the river. I. love. spring. Anyways. The hard part didn’t come until the evening. All of my friends and I were invited to the new baseball stadium that Tulsa built downtown. I would just like to say a few things. One, I love baseball. Being from St. Louis and all it is pretty much bred into your bones. Every single St. Louisian loves baseball and loves the Cardinals. Now, imagine my excitement when I found out that Tulsa was going to build an actually ball park for our AA team, The Tulsa Drillers. Woo hoo, you just made my day. So that was really awesome for me and the city as a whole. I will be looking forward to many many more baseball games in my future. That was the good news. The bad news was that my friend’s parents rented the entire Tiki Deck at the new stadium for us to enjoy the first game. Great, but not so great. This Tiki Deck came equiped with a spread of dinner and drinks. Yikes. I guarantee that no one thought to make this dinner Paleo Friendly. So, knowing that this night would be hard on my eating style I prepared myself. I made sure I had a bag of cashews and cranberries and I also cut up an apple for easy accessibility. I figured that at the very least they would have burgers and I could have one sans bun/cheese/and everything else that is great on a burger. Which meant I didn’t have to worry about protein. Good. I was set.

Just a side note: I will be the first one to say, with all of this Paleo business and everything I am giving up there is one thing that just won’t be going away and that is alcohol. Again, being from St. Louis it is rather hard not to grow up drinking copious amounts of beer with Anheuser Bush being right down the street. Now throw in the fact that I am Italian and wine was pretty much served with every meal since I was old enough to hold my own bottle and you can pretty much see that cutting out alcohol was just a step farther than I was willing to take this whole deal. But I am making adjustments. I am attempting to not drink any beer and if I am going to indulge then it will be with wine or hard liquor. And when I do decide to drink I will make sure that I have a plethora of Paleo snacks handy so I am not tempted to cheat. Unfortunately my friends are not joining me in this challenge so they find no problem with ordering pizza or fast food at 2:00 in the morning. Good for them, bad for me.

Once we got to the game and I was able to soak in everything that is great about baseball, it was on to the buffet. I looked at the spread, and thanking my lucky stars, I noticed that they had plain grilled chicken breasts at the end of the line. Hallelujah. Unfortunately I had to pass up other delicious things like macaroni and cheese, chips and dips, etc. So I grabbed a chicken breast and went to have my meal. The game was fun, and I ended up staying on track which was a small victory for me. I can’t say the same about the poor Drillers, the ended up losing 0-7. Oh well, maybe next time.

Ok, well I guess it is a little late to say I drank the kool-aid, since it has been over a year now and I am more hooked to Crossfit than I ever thought was possible.

I actually learned about Crossfit while working out at a local YWCA. I had been taking a variety of classes there for over two years and had stopped seeing any results, or as everyone likes to call it, I hit a total fitness plateau.

So one day someone posted a flyer up about a new group class that claimed it could, “Get you in the best shape of your life” and immediately I was intrigued. Nervous to start something new, I signed up since space was limited and then spent the next week talking myself out of going. Only understanding that this would be an intense circuit-like training, I worried that I wouldn’t be able to do it. Many questions filtered through my head daily, which included horrid scenarios like, passing out, vomiting on myself and many other anxiety causing thoughts.

And then the day came, September 8, 2008. The Y Crossfit class took place at noon, so I changed at work and drove to the Y with knots in my stomach. I believe I sat in my car for about 10 minutes debating whether to go in or not, and finally, after a few deep breaths, got out and walked in.

Lets just say I made it through the class without any puking and minimal light-headedness. I was the most sore I had ever been in my entire life and more than excited to go back. It was just what I was looking for. I had danced competitively my entire life, so it incorporated that competitive, be the best spirit, while challenging me. Since I had been running on the treadmill for the last two years I had come to the point where I thought to stay in shape I would have to dredge on that horrible piece of machinery every single day. Well, I can officially say, Mind. Blown. It altered my view of working out and refreshed my spirit. I started hitting walls and then climbing over them. I was being pushed past points that I never thought were possible, when I wanted to give up, I learned how to “push past the pain,” as Breck, our trainer and owner of Crossfit Jenks always said. My confidence in myself and my abilities skyrocketed and it felt great.

Breck, the owner of CrossFit Jenks still teaches a slightly different version of Crossfit at the Y. Unfortunately the Y doesn’t have all of the necessary equipment like barbells, and pull up bars. We typically use dumbbells, box jumps, kettlebells and spin bikes. Attending both the Y Crossfit and his affiliate, Crossfit Jenks has helped me stay well-rounded in all of the Crossfit movements.

I could not imagine a day without Crossfit in my life. If I am not doing crossfit, I dream about crossfit, so I guess you can say, I drank the Kool-Aid and loved every tasty sip of it.

About Me!

Christina is a Saint Louis native who received a B.A. from the University of Tulsa and stayed in Tulsa after graduation. Christina was a dancer for 20 years, focusing on all facets of dance including jazz, tap, ballet and competitive pom. She went on to dance at the University of Tulsa and coached/choreographed for various middle schools and high schools in the Tulsa area. Her passion for keeping an active lifestyle continued after college when she joined a gym and began running. She completed her first half marathon in November of 2009 and has run in various 5-10k races in Tulsa. Christina is dedicated to fitness and fell in love with Crossfit in September 2008. The physical and mental strength she has gained since starting Crossfit keeps her wanting more day after day. She has her Crossfit Level 1 Certification and hopes to teach people the benefits and rewards of exercise and healthy eating.